Improved appaeatus poe sepaeating gees and mineeals



5 R, KROM 2 Sheets-Sh t 1 Ore Separator.

Patented April 7. 1868.

III/I Wt fnesscs guitar gimme igment @ffi cn.

STEPHEN R. KROM, QF NEW N.--Y.

Letters Patent No. 76,331, dated April 7, 1 868.

IMPROVED APPARATUS Fen sEPARQiTmeoREs-AND MINERALS.

flit: Sclgehule marsh in in this nns Kikiitiii int making pint iii 11;: saute.

TO ALLv WHOM IT MAY-(JONCERN':

Be it known that I, STEELHEN R. KROM, of thecity of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new andn se'fnl Improvements. in Means or Apparatus for Separating. Granular Ores and other Material having Diiferent Specific Gravitiesfi end]: do hereby declare that thc'following is it full and exact description-thereof, reference being had 'to the accompanying drau'iii-g's,-which form a. pant of this specification.

This invention relates, in part, to thelconstrnction and arrangement of that class of machines in which intermittcntjets or puffs of air oi o ther'fluid are projected through is. perforated bottom1or sieve,'on which thematerials lie, sons tcloo'sen and agitate the mass in a uinnnecivhich' hns been found to bep eculiarly favorable for separating lighter from heavier grains, oer-vying the lighter to the'top and allowing the heavier to. sink'to the bottom of the stratum. i

This invent-ionconsists, firs'tly, in providing-in a sepnrsting-tnhchine,'hnving the grainsseparcte'dhy the intermittent'ection of air or other fluid, ts below described, acertain.peculiarlyhrrsnged passage to discharge the lower or heavier stratum of material; secondly, in providing,- in such a. machine, a, narrow gate or apron, at

the month of such passage, for better preventing the 'entrance of tailings or light materiel therein; thirdly, in-

providing, in such machine, a. shoe or spout, at'the discharge-end of such passage, for better regulatingtheflctr ofmeterihl from snchf passage; fonrthly, in providing, in such machine, ccrtzrimvnlves, to allow the escape of air or analogous fluid -when .the action is too strong;- fifthly, in placing, in such machine,.the blowing means,

directly under and near to'the ore-bed, and maintaining. its close-notion with variable lengths of stroke; sixthly,

in theus'e'iof a. peculiar constructionofbellows, in'such machine, whereby I obtain a. very free induction for the.

air or other fluid; seventhly, in the employment, in such me.chine,.of-a cam-motion for the bellows, so' as to open slowly end shut quickly; eighthly, in certainimeans of easing apportion ofthe machinery, in suchmschine, to'protect'itQ i I Figs. Ito 8, inclusive, represent machines constructed according to that part of my invention which employsintermittent jets. i I

Figure 1 is a. longitudinal central section through onefo rm of my machine.

Fig-nreZ is an and elevation. I

Figure 3 is a transverse section.

Figure i is a. plan View. I v I Figurefi is a longitudinal section through a machine, showing ve. modification of the form shown in figs. '1,- 2, 3, end 4.: r I I Figure 6 is an end view of the same.

Fignre 7 ice longitudinal section through amachine, showing further modifications of my invention. Figure 8 is e cross-section oi" the same. I i Asia 2. frame, made of iron, which supports or carries the several pcrt's;v A is a. lattice-frame, of wood,

over which is tightly drawn a fine-wire sieve, B, on which the ore to be treated is placed. C is a'pistqn-bellows,

so constructed as to render-it very strong, and admit the free passage of air through it, the. operation ofwhich wili be hereafter described. 1) is a. cam-wheel, connected to and operating the bellows by mesnsof pitmen D and levers D, said cam-Wheel being constructed so as to give a, quick upward movement of the piston, said. piston moving np im ue-quarter and down in threequerters of'each revolution of the wheel, thus giving more force or velocity to the piston, and allowingniore time for the bellows to'fill in its downwardmovement. .'At each upward movement of the piston, the air above it is suddenly forced through the ore lying on the bed or fine sieve B, and coiusiug a. partial separstionof the ore, or heavier particles from the lighter, thelighterpan ticles will be thrown to the top,-while the heavier will remnin at the bottom. Each puff of air continues to more divide or separate theparticles until an entire separation is attained.

A. hopper, E, proi'ided with a sliding tube, E, placed over the npper end'of themachine, is for feeding the machine with material tobe operated upon. Placing the month ofsaid tube nearer to'or further? from the sieve regulates the rapid or slow flow of material. When the machine is in motion, the ore on the bed-is constantly free passage of air into the bellows, which is necessary on account of'its rapid movement.

moving forward or downward, so that just as fast as the'ore is removed from the mouth of the feeding-tube it will be replaced by more pressing closely after it. In this way the machine is fed uniformly, or just equal to the rapidity with which the ore is discharged at the'lower end of the machine. The ore on entering the machine throughthe tube E, at the upper end, is equally mixed with quartz, or other lighter materials, as is repre sented by'red and black dots shown in the drawings; but the action of the air on .the mass in rapid successive puffs tends to lift the lighter particles to the surface, and also to move the whole mass forward or down the incline, as before mentioned, so that the farther the ore advances the more perfect becomes the separation, until finally, at the lower end of. the machine, perfect separation has taken place,and we, at this point, provide suitable channels for the escape of the lower stratum, and an overflow for the upper or lighter stratum.

At the lower end of the discharge, F, for the pure' ore, is placed a shoe, F, by means of which I regulate the dischargeot the metal; The said shoe is hung on pivots, ff, and may be raised or lowered at various angles with the spout or discharge, thereby checking orretarding the flow of metal.

At the point where the ore leaves the bed and enters the perpendicular discharge or spout, is placed narrow wire apron, G, represented infigs. 1, 4, and 5. The objectof this apron is to prevent any tailings or refuse material from working down at the end ofithe machine, and mixing with the pure ore; this is necessary on account of the tendency of the quartz or lighter material to mingle with the ore at the edges of the sieve. The overflow for tailings or refuse material, is provided with agate to regulate their discharge, and also the depth of the mass lyiugat the lower end of the bed.

Next to: producing a quick, upward movement of the bellows, is to place it as-near the sieve as possible. By this meansI get a more yigorous pulsation or action'on the ore than I do when the blowing-device is farther removed. For example, let us suppose we wish to move the blowing-device upward two inches, and we have a two-inch air-ch amber above the bellows, then the pressure will be increased, but if we reduce the air-chamber to one-half inch, then the pressure will be still greater. By placing thebellows near enables me touse a shorter stroke and-produce the same effect on theore, also producing a more vigorous action or pulsation, which is so essential, and which I do not getwhen the bellows act, through a greater distance. Along action of bellows tends to produce an casy-lifting action on the ore, but it is a vital point that it should be short and sudden. i i

Since all ores are not of the same gravity, some will require greater force of air-to lift them than others. I therefore provide means .to lengthen or shorten the action'of the blowing-device by using a swinging fulcrum, d. This fulcrum may be moved on the levers D at will. When the levers D are lengthened, by throwing back the fulcrum d, the motion of thebellows is increased in the same proportion which would cause the bellows to strike the bed which supports the sieve. To avoid this, I hang thefulcra d on. a shaft, 02, by which they are rigidly held in line, so that when the said fulcra swing backward towards the cam, they fall belowtheir'original heightpand thus compensate for the longer-or shorter stroke of the bellows. In this way I am enabled to keep the bellows close to the sieve, whatever-"may be the length of the stroke. Boxes sliding on an angle would'be a perfect method of accomplishing this movement, but the above-described method is so nearly perfect that I prefer'to use-it on account of its simplicity. The yoke, d is for the purpose of holding the cam-roller and attached parts in position;

The bellows are provided with partitions, C, cf'leather, or other flexible material, represented in figs. 1 and- 5, (I.do not limit myself to any particular number.) The object is-t-o confine the air between the walls of the said partitions, and to carry it directly upward over each section of bellows. By the aid of these partitions and. valves 0 fig. 1, I am enabled to produce the desired effect on the ore directly over each section or division of bellows. This is necessary on account of the increasing density of the mass as it approaches. the lower end of the machine, clearly represented by red and blaclrdots. It will, therefore, be seen that-it requires a-stronger' puff of air to agitate the mass lying on the bed at the lower end of the machine than to agitate that lying on the upper end. To produce this effect,I provide each section of thebellows with an escape-valve, e, fig. 4', and by this means graduatethe force of air required to agitate the, mass over each respective section. Thcone at the upper end will be open and allow a greater escape than the one next to it, and so on in regular succession.

The bellows before mentioned is constructed as follows: C is the main support, which carries the cross: bars,,which, in turn, carry a coarse-wire sieve, which acts as a support for the valves 0 the said wire not only making a good support for the valves, which are of leather or other flexible material, but it also admits of 8.

Machinery of this class is subject to much wear onaccount of the sand,-grit, dust, &c.,,connected with the operation of concentrating any kinds of earthy matter, getting into the journals of the machine. To prevent this, I enclose the running-gear in a box, H, so that it is subject only to the ordinary wear of machinery.

The only place where the dust can enter the closed box H is through the openings where the levers 1) pass. These I close by meansof a bag, fastened securely around the openings, and tiedto the moving parts outside, thus forming a fiexiblejoint.- It can be attached to the levers D, as represented, or extended still further out .and made to enclose the joint'at the end of that lever.

A modification of my maehineis represented in figs. 7 and 8. The difference consists in the form of the bed on which the ore lies and the placefor delivery. In most cases I consider this the best. I here incline the bed from each end toward the centre of the machine, and it delivers the ore at this point through a spout,'F, iu the same manner as described in fig. 1. The tailings are carried over the end of they machine, as described in figs. 1 and 2. Below the inclined bedsare placed straight beds. The'space between these is filled with the same kind of material as that to be treated on the upper bed. Bythis means I equal ize the force of the blast on the mass lying on thejinclined beds. If it were not for this'iilling, air would'es'cape at the upper end of the bed, where the ore lies in a thinner stratum, without producing any effect upon that which lies in a thicker'stratum at the lower end. While I consider this the best form to make the upper bed, it is not essentialto perfect concentrm tion. I find that a perfectly straight bed works well-enough for practical purposes. I prefer to make them both ways, as'circumstances may require. N

The advantages of the form represented in fig. 7 over that represented in fig. 1, are, that the ore'in fig. 1, if fed too fast, is liable to work down and be forced overthe overflow for tailings; but in the form represented in fig. 7, it will be seen that the metal or pure ore tends in the opposite direction to the tailings.

In the form shown in iig'l, I can separate all ordinary matters with a considerably less length of the inclined perforated bed than is represented. I can operate the machine verysuc'cessfully by' feeding the material on to the middle of thc' bed here represented, thus using only half the length of the bed. I propose, in practice, to make the machine in some instances double, that is to say, to make the feed-spout and its hppurtenances of a eapacitysufficient to supply twice the quantity of ore or granular substance, and to place it over the middle of the perforated bed B, and to cause the bed to incline from that point towards. both ends of the machine, and to provide similar discharging-apparatus,F F, G, at, at each end. In such case, I can make the bellows C and it's appurtenances correspondingly incline in both directions. I have operated the machine in this double form very successfully with-the bellows G perfectly level. The double'm'achi'ne treats about twice the quantity in the same time as 'a single machine, and requires only a single set of the blowing and the feeding-devices.

I am aware that the blowing up through perforated beds, with various means of disposing of the materials thereby separated according to their gravities, has been before known. I would especially disclaim all that is described in the several patents issued to Thoinasd. Chubb, dated, respectively, August 25, September 1, and October 13, 185-7; but having now fully described my invention, with what I consider the best means of carrying it out, I

WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. I claim, in machines for separating granular materials of different, densities by the aid of intermittent jets of air or other fluid, the' passa ge F, discharge the lower stratum, either from an inclined or level bed of a double or single machine, as herein described.

2. I claim, in such machine, the small apron G, at the lower discharge, as described.

3. I claim, in such machine, the shoe F, at the lower end of the lower discharge, as described.

4. I claim, in such machine, the escape-valves c c,,for the purpose described.'

5.' I claim, in such machine, the blowing means, or its equivalents, situated close to the material, in combination with the within-described manner of maintaining. its proximity under various changes of stroke, for the purpose described. p I I H 6. I claim the bellows 0, having a series of flaps O covering nearly the whole open-work or perforated surface, as shown in figs. 1, 5, and 7. I I I 7. I claim, in such machine, the cam-wheel D oonstructed and arranged relativelyto the lever D and its connections, as and for the purpose described. I

8. I claim, in such machine, the closed box H, constructed and arranged relatively to the enclosed andconnee'ted parts, .substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

S. R. KROM. Witnesses:

T. D. Srnrson, O. O. Lrvrires. 

